Over the last 19 Big Day Out years, there have been 110 individual shows. Sydney has had the most, as it was the location of the first in 1992, and in 2004, 2010, and 2011, it received a second show due to increasing popularity.

The year with the highest number of international acts is 2012, with a total of 18. The year with the lowest number of internationals was 1992, with only two (three if you count Henry Rollins' performance with The Hard Ons).

The act to have played the most years overall is Shihad at 12 years (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 (under the name Pacifier), 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011), however a number of these years only included performances at the Auckland show.

The longest headliner set was Metallica's in 2004, at 1 hour 45 minutes. They were also the only headliner to have more than one encore. The average headliner set is around 1 hour 15 minutes long, with one encore.

The following international acts have performed at the Big Day Out more than once:

Cancellations
-Sepultura were withdrawn from the 1997 lineup for unknown reasons, and replaced by Fear Factory.
-Aphex Twin was withdrawn from the 1999 lineup for unknown reasons.
-Mr. Bungle were originally to be announced as a part of the 2000 lineup, but according to Mike Patton, they were withdrawn at the request of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as a part of an ongoing feud between Patton and Anthony Kiedis.
-Limp Bizkit cancelled the remainder of their 2001 Big Day Out shows after the death of a teenage girl in the crowd, during their performance at Sydney.
-A Perfect Circle withdrew from the 2004 lineup, allegedly because Maynard James Keenan was unhappy with performing in daylight. They were also replaced by Fear Factory.
-AFI, Jean Grae and Mylo were all withdrawn from the 2006 lineup. AFI had to meet a completion deadline for their album Decemberunderground which they were still working on, Mylo suffered a viral infection that caused him almost complete hearing loss, and Jean Grae was withdrawn for unknown reasons.
-Björk withdrew from her Sydney performance in 2008, allegedly under doctor's orders following swelling on her vocal chords, but she still performed as part of the Sydney Festival on the steps of the Opera House.
-The Vines were forced to withdraw from the 2009 lineup due to Craig Nicholls' state of mental health.
-Beenie Man was withdrawn from the 2010 lineup, following complaints about his homophobic lyrics.
-The Black Keys withdrew from the 2011 lineup, claiming over-exhaustion after heavy touring.

these are probably hugely wrong but aren't they pretty to look at

The most important thing I learned, however, was that Neil Hamburger performed in 2003. Why did no one tell me this.

Plus only 5 of them have performed before, so that's a good dozen international acts making their Big Day Out debut (and in some cases, their Australian debut). This year, out of the 17 internationals, only 8 were making their debut.